The Dwarf of Mountain Lake
by Abyss the Hedgehog
Summary: Brace yourself for Ikeyama Tsuyoshi's in town and he's gonna wreck it down. Okay, maybe not really. Still, can a short-tempered deliquent-in-making find some peace, friendship or... love here in Sakakino Gakuen? Find out as you embrace this epic story of The Dwarf of Mountain Lake. Rated T for swearing and violence, might change into M later on.
1. Friendmaking for Dummies

**Hey guys. Long time no see, eh?**

**All I can do is to apologize for leaving my account and all my stories like that. I just don't think they were up to the task, including the latest KS one. They shall remain never finished, mostly as a reminder of an old shame.**

**My mind switched back to School Days some time ago. Thought I might do a fic that doesn't necessarily include self-inserts, stupid-ass psycho-inter-dimension stuff, the likes. A fic which goes by relatively realistic standards and, uh, maybe it can be a bit more light-hearted compared to other ones. **

**Enter Ikeyama Tsuyoshi or the titular Dwarf of Mountain Lake. Like all other fics, this one will also be done on a whim and might contain inconsistencies, but I'll try to keep it as clean and correctly English as possible. **

**Let us go back to Sakakino Gakuen. Enjoy ourselves before the carnage starts... Contains lots of swearing and possibly other M-rated things.**

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><p>Man, this sucks balls.<p>

To move like that for an umpteenth time seems like lots of bullshit. What was wrong with the previous school? Just because I laid down that one creep wasn't a reason to pack things and leave. It's not like I did a bad thing. Hell, I went easy on the fucking pervert, he was openly groping that junior high schoolgirl.

Then again, he _was_ a teacher. Kinda got me a lot of ire from principal. Got that askew, pisssed-off look anytime I was around.

Anyway, mostly because of this my parents are moving to another town. According to Dad it's gonna be easier to find a less sucky job to where we're going: Sakakino City. It's some rural town a few hours by train from Kyoto. Supposedly a cool place to live and it helps that Pops has an old friend of his there, some well-off businessman that might be able to help him out.

Wait. I didn't even introduce myself. Name's Ikeyama Tsuyoshi, aged sixteen. Standing at five feet and two inches which is totally one hundred fifty _eight_ centimeters. Not seven. _Eight_. There's a reason I was called "Dwarf of the Mountain Lake" back in the previous school. Don't think this is a problem to me though. If necessary, I will smack you around like a ragdoll.

I, uh, I admit I've got some issues regarding this, but as long as you don't mention it, I'm an okay guy to be around. Smacking around bad guys and not afraid of anything. Been doing that since I was able to. Bully-hunting, that is. You could say, I'm a bully to these bullies.

The reasoning behind this is rather simple. Everywhere, no matter if it's the center of Tokyo, the most rural village of them all or something in between: there's always an asshole that gets off on ruining people's lives and moods for his own amusement. The guy that will kick puppies and instigate pointless evil just to see you cringe or cry. Well, I say "fuck that" and lay him out with a well-placed straight. Been training box since I was thirteen, helped me get over some anger management issues as well as aid my cause of smacking such scumbags around. Things get complicated when said bully is a girl. You know the kind, the one that tugs on your hair just because she's got dandruff and is simply jealous. You're familiar with all these tough cookie movie types that fuck bad guys around and refuse to lay a finger on an enemy chick? I ain't one of these. But since it often looks like I'm the one doing the assaulting, it most often than not gets me in trouble. Since my first flop at freshman year in junior high where I defended my classmate from a senior bitch by punching the stars out of her, I've started to take a more diplomatic approach to these things. Ain't easy, especially when your temper is still kinda thin, but so far I've been able to handle at least a part of such conflicts by words, mostly simple threats. Reputation helps making them more meaningful.

One thing I won't argue or discuss about however is sexual abuse. No, fuck no. I don't care who the offender is, I'm laying him down. It's not always a good thing for my own interest – as the earlier example with said teacher demonstrated – but fuck if it's not a right one.

But I'm getting off the track. Back to the main story.

As I mentioned, we're now en route to Sakakino. There's a high school there that I'll enlist to, simply called Sakakino Gakuen. Not a particularly good one, but I ain't a particularly good student either. To be fair, I kinda suck. They keep telling me that I've got potential, but I dunno if something will ever come out of it.

We'll be arriving a few days before the school year starts so there's that as well. Will get me some time to get knowledgeable about my surroundings. Gonna check out if they have any box gyms there, would be bad to let my skill degrade without training. I mean, pretty damn sure that that school also has its own bullies.

My older sister, Sayuri, had arrived there a couple days earlier to help us establish the house we'll be put in. Ain't gonna be fancy, but it should do for these couple of years. I plan to not change schools this time. Hopefully, no sexual offender will creep around.

As for Sayuri herself, she's the kind of gal that you'd love to have as a business partner. No-nonsense, professional, successful – she's a vice-chairman in a small company producing electronics and so far both the company and she has been making some aggressive progress to win over the competition – kinda cold even. I know she cares for us all, but she could put some more passion into it. We were never getting along too well, but this might be the fact that our personalities are on opposite sides of the spectrum. She's a cold flood, I'm a blazing flame.

In any case, since Sayuri's the person in this family that has the most business sense she'll be making sure that the house ain't a pig in a poke, that everything works and is just as the offer said and all that jazz. Dad's kind of a dreamer and Mum... let's say she's got an attention span of a ten-year-old. Gets too easily excited. Kinda funny how despite my violent outbursts I'm still the second most rational person in our family. That doesn't mean I don't love them. I do, to pieces. They might be kinda scatterbrained, but hell, they're my parents. They gave birth to me, they tended to me, they gave me a chance to live at all.

In any case, we still have an hour or so to arrive there. Might as well take a nap.

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><p>I won't describe how we got all of our stuff placed in right places. What's most important is that everything about the house was as described and I think Sayuri actually went a step further and pushed the owner into lowering the rent. Dunno how she did that, but my sister would likely be able to negotiate with devil and still come out on top.<p>

I decided to take a stroll around the town, see what it has in store. Surprisingly, it's not as rural as Pops made it out to be: they've got lots of them skyscrapers in the city centre, there's also a lot of train stations. I even took a ride before getting out on some random station called Harahirama. After some pointless strolling here and there around the train station itself I decided to venture deeper into the outskirts of Sakakino. Sun's slowly setting, but that ain't a problem.

Seems like this might be some exclusive part of town: houses here look fancier than those in our district. Everything seems kinda rich for a rural town. Rural my ass. I honestly don't know how Pops – as lost in thought as he can be – found this place rural.

Whether it's rural or not, some things never change. Some things are always the same. Like bullies. These are always the same.

Two of them, both pretty damn tall. Not necessarily buffed, but they look like they could pull a mean punch or two. Currently, busy disturbing a girl. She seems to be of similar age to me, likely attends Sakakino Gakuen herself. She's clearly uncomfortable and wants to leave, but the two circle her around all the time like wolves about to eat a lamb. Fucking disgusting is a good way of putting this.

"...come on, sunshine, you won't regret it." As I approach the commotion I can hear one of them talking to her. "We're gonna be your personal kings of the world."

"...I, I r-really need to go..." She responds, but the meekness of her answer falls on deaf ears.

"And leave us here? We can show you a good time, sweet stuff." The other says, grinning in a way that cannot be described in any other way than perverted.

That about does it.

"Oi, dirtbags!" I address them loudly, glaring. Their sugar-laced smiles directed towards the girl vanish instantly as they turn to look at me.

"You have some sort of problem, kid? We're busy." The first one snarls at me in response. They think I'm a kid. Good. Makes things easier.

"How about no? You leave that girl alone or we're gonna have words." The other just lets out a thunderous laugh before exchanging amused stares with his cohort and approaching me.

"You're amusing, short stuff, so we're gonna let this slip. Go and scurry to mommy." He says, grinning mockingly. Good thing that you're showing me all these teeth, fucker.

They make for a nice target.

Not thinking much at this point I throw a left straight right at the shining keyboard in front of me. The punch connects with a satisfying clank as the man curses and reels back, missing a foretooth and two fangs.

"Son of a bitch!" He cries out, holding his mouth in pain. The other sexual offender is too dumbfounded to act. Good. Not wasting time I move to him and deliver one blow to the liver. He bends over, gasping for air. Can't let you do that. I throw in an upper for a good measure, knocking him down on his sorry ass. In the meantime I hear the other guy slowly channeling his rage through pain. He's going to try and grab me soon. I turn to face him and true to my expectations he's charging at me like a bull. I swiftly sidestep in response and knock him down with a well-done leg sweep. Isn't something I learned at boxing classes, but it helps now and then. He hits the pavement with a satisfying thud. I glance at the first one, but it seems he's out of commission already. My eyes dart for a brief while to the girl. She's clearly terrified, but hasn't ran away, instead choosing to hug the wall with eyes as big as saucers.

The other guy tries to grab me by the leg and pull me down, but that ain't gonna work. Hopping away I kick him right in the face, this time scoring another fang and a broken nose. All of his anger suddenly puffed out, replaced by a pained scream that degraded to a pathetic sobbing shortly after. He's conscious, but he's given up.

"Listen to me well, shit. If I find you harassing this girl or any other girl in whole damn Sakakino, I'll make sure to send you both in a crash-course to nearest hospital." I growl, staring him down. He doesn't respond, instead choosing to whimper and mumble curses as he holds his bloodied nose. With a sigh I turn away to look at the girl. She's terrified. "You okay?" I ask her. She doesn't respond immediately, instead staring at me as if I was some kind of ancient monster that came to terrorize Japan for God knows which time. She's afraid of me, I get that. It happens a lot in my, uh, line of work.

Actually, it's more of a hobby.

"...I-I'm fine." She finally responds, nodding nervously. "Thank, thank you."

"The only right thing to do." I shake my head. "Wouldn't be okay to just leave you with these two."

"They... they actually were harassing me... for some time."

"Another reason to smack them around." I let out a chuckle. "Do you mind if I walk you home? Dunno how many such creeps might be lurking around." There's a brief moment of uncertainty in her nervous smile, but it seems that my little perfomance had win me enough trust as she nods in response.

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><p>Katsura Kotonoha, that's the girl's name. We've talked a bit during our walk and she gradually opened up a little bit. I was glad to see her if not relaxed than at least not nervous any longer.<p>

As she explained she was going to Sakakino Gakuen this year as a freshman, just like me. She was on her way back home from school, likely to give it a look, when these creeps appeared. Thankfully they didn't know where she lived as they would always leave if someone adult would approach them. Since tonight there was no such man or woman they got bolder. Thankfully, I was around to smack them around.

If there was any reason why she was harassed by these two it was definitely her figure. Katsura-san, put simply, is drop dead gorgeous. There's some kind of quality about her that makes a man – and probably many a woman – at least curious. Shameful to admit, but I think my heart skipped a beat when I was able to see her in more detail under one lamppost. It wasn't just about huge breasts, she had everything: long flowing hair, face with hardly any imperfection, a slim yet not overly thin figure and damn long legs. No wonder these two were so interested in her though that gave them no reason to molest her like that. Well, I can only hope they've learned their lesson though it will be satisfying to smack them around once more.

We chatted for a bit about general stuff. From what I've gathered so far she has a younger sister named Kokoro, absolutely sucks at cooking, likes horror movies – curiously enough – and practices iaido. She's also filthy rich if the size of the mansion she lives in – because there's no way in hell I'm calling that a house – is anything to go by.

"Well then, guess I'll see you around in school." I say, giving a slight smile. Katsura-san smiles as well.

"It would be nice." She responds, nodding. "See you soon, Ikeyama-san." With that we part ways, both – I believe – rather content.

I'm glad I've got to meet someone before going to Sakakino Gakuen. Kinda regretting that I didn't ask her for her phone number, but I think she's the kind of girl who would just blush furiously at the proposition. Nah. We'll get to be schoolmates soon, so maybe then, once we establish a friendship or at least some good relations.

Apologizing to Mum that I'm still not at home I make my way there as quickly as possible. I think that's enough of attractions for an introductory day.

* * *

><p>And today's the day. I shall officially become a student of Sakakino Gakuen.<p>

Can't say I'm excited, but it's nice to start. Once we're past a boring introductory ceremony hosted by what is likely the most boring principal in the world we all head our ways, looking for our classes. Apparently mine will be class 1-4. Keeping my jacket put on my shoulders like a cape and loosening the necktie a bit I head there though I end up having to ask a sempai or two where exactly the class in question is.

Arriving there I notice there's still not a lot of people inside: just three girls sitting in on the end of the class, chatting rather enthusiastically about something. Other than them there's some totally generic dude sitting in the middle and browsing through his phone and... wait a second.

"Katsura-san?" Before I can bite my tongue words come out. The long-haired beauty turns to see me, clearly as surprised as I am.

"Ikeyama-san?" She responds with a question before closing her book. "I didn't expect..."

"...to see you here? Didn't either." Making my way to the end of the class where she's situated I can't not notice that the three girls from the other side took a brief glance at Katsura-san and then switched back to me, likely evaluating whether the two of us have some sort of close relationship already. They do seem like gossip girls from the looks of it. Not to mention, one of them has a really idiotic hairdo, but that's an another matter. "Guess we're gonna be classmates. Hope you don't mind if I sit next to you?" Again, she seems hesitant. I guess I can't blame her, it may look like I'm getting personal quickly.

"If you could take... the one lower instead..." She responds meekly.

"No problem, can do that as well." She must really shy away from anything even resembling physical contact. I've noticed yesterday something unusual about these two sexual offenders that were disturbing Katsura-san. Neither of them even attempted to touch her. They were close, yeah, and they were circling her around, but neither tried to, I dunno, squeeze her arm, brush her hair, nothing. I suppose they would overcome this psychical barrier sooner or later though it does make me wonder. Is she known around? Perhaps her parents are some big cheeses here in Sakakino? Hell, with a mansion like that it wouldn't be all that surprising.

After I take my seat just under the one of Katsura-san's there's a long period of awkward silence between us. She's obviously embarrassed for some reason. Was it something I said? Probably my question. I've never been too subtle, I guess. Gonna work on that.

After a while we manage to break this awkwardness though and make some small chat. Apparently she will be appointing for the position of class rep. Dunno if she's going to fit in there with her personality, but I guess it's not my business. The class slowly fills with people, guys and gals. Finally after the last student takes his place it comes a turn for our homeroom teacher – an elderly woman in a rather gaudish pink attire – to enter. So it begins, my first year at Sakakino Gakuen.

I can only hope it's gonna be good...

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><p><strong>There you have it. Hope that jackass Ikiyama will be to your liking. :) <strong>


	2. Bully Hunter in Action

**Well then, let us not waste time and continue with a next chapter.**

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><p>Lessons keep going on and on and on and on. And then some more on.<p>

I found myself just kinda lying lifelessly on my desk after a second hour. I really do suck at this. Yeah, I think I've got some notes about how electricity works, but they're likely anything but useful. The girl sitting next to me, a ponytailed brunette, doesn't appear to be interested in this ungodly boring lecture either. Unlike me, she hardly even has any notes, instead choosing to roll her pen across the desk, left and right. Left and right. This kind of pendulum can be strangely captivating.

One row higher, Katsura-san was meanwhile hell of an attentive student if her quick, efficient motions while writing were anything to go by. Oh how I wish I could do half as well in such situation. Gonna have to ask her if she's willing to share notes once lessons are over.

After a long period of droning about stuff that might as well be coded in Latin the schoolbell finally rangs. Oh sweet sweet freedom! About time, too: I was getting hungry as hell. Didn't get a lunchbox with me, so I had to make a beeline to cafeteria. My eyes briefly darted to Katsura-san. Seems she was on her way somewhere as well. A brief thought crossed my mind to join her in wherever she was heading to, but I quickly scrubbed it out. No reason to give the trio of gossip girls more ammo that fast. Hell, I need to get to know people around better. Wouldn't be good if she was my only contact around.

My desk neighbor decided to take the break as a nap time. Guess it works as well. Time to head out.

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><p>The sea of uniforms, both male and female, is positively staggering. They're so official either, black and white with an extra red ribbon for girls. I've noticed that the female version includes thigh-high socks for some reason since every single female I've seen had them. Huh. Will be the first time I've seen something like that.<p>

All in all, the school itself seems rather calm despite tons of students moving here and there. Nothing too fancy about it. Makes me wonder if they have any interesting clubs here. Something like football or anything of the sort. Baseball, maybe? Always wanted to try it out since it's pretty much our national sport.

Lots of thoughts, quite unpleasantly interrupted when I've found myself bumping into someone. With a rather loud thud both myself and the other guy took a step back, blinking in surprise. It quickly degraded into irritation however. I mean, what the hell is that guy doing, walking like that?! Is he blind or something?!

"Oi, how about you watch where you're going." I snarl at him, staring him down. He's taller than me and packs some impressive musculature. Unlike those two shits from a couple of days earlier this one seriously looked intimidating. Yeah, if they weren't such pussies, they would likely put up a fight, but this guy... this guy looked like a text-book deliquent.

Not that it matters. Tough or not, he'd do well to keep his goddamn eyes on the track.

"Pot to kettle." He responds with a murmuring baritone, glaring me down. "Though I would likely not notice you anyway." Is he making fun of me? I can feel the rage boiling inside already. He either gets out of my way or I'm going to lay down another person.

"Oh yeah? Steroids tasting good, big lug?" I bark an insult back at him. This seems to prick him well as his expression turns right around from irritated to downright hostile. Good going, Ikeyama.

"I suggest you move before I make you." He growls. This is starting to resemble a showdown between a bear and a wolf. Hell if I'm backing down though.

"Make me." I offer a mocking smirk. True to my expectations he throws a punch in response, right at my nose. It hits against my raised arms, blocking it. Still, I underestimated him. For such hulking appearance he's pretty damn fast. Hopping away I casually throw away my jacket. It would only get in the way. The big guy rather hands it to the girl next to him, brown-haired with a single strand of hair sticking around. She seems flustered and confused. They're classmates? Couple? Dunno, not important right now. This lug's screwed ten times over.

"Alright kiddo. You've just fucked yourself." He drones surprisingly dully before beginning to approach me calmly, fists slowly raising. A quick glance around reveals that our little scrap is already beginning to gather curious eyes here. Well, truth be told, it's day one of school, so nobody would expect conflicts so soon, especially so explosive and physical.

Keeping my fists and arms protecting my face with only eyes seen, peek-a-boo style, I see him slowly approaching. He's careful. Guess he ain't as dumb as he looks like. My boxing stance probably threw him off guard, he likely was expecting some street-fighting brawler. People around are already whispering among each other, but that's not important. Doesn't matter if I win this or not either. What matters is the point. I ain't backing down just because some fucking roided-up thug is in my way. If he's the bully, even better: that will teach him to not mess with me or anyone around me. If he's not, he'll think twice before trying to become one.

The tension grows with each second as he gradually closes to me, likely looking for a good opportunity to land a good hit. Tempting to try and nail him with a straight, but it's too much of a risk: he's got way longer arms and exposing my face at his optimal punching range would be just asking for a beatdown. Gonna wait until he's close enough, then I'll grind his liver into fine paste with a few well-placed hits.

I got so worked up – and kinda excited too - about this that I forgot about one crucial detail however. The big guy quickly exploited it by sweeping me off my feet with a well-placed kick.

This ain't a boxing match.

Not wasting time he quickly follows with a quick straight to my now fully exposed face. Not wanting to get an immediate dent in about all of my appearance I roll out of the way, quickly getting back on my feet. My opponent slowly turns around to face me. That son of a bitch is smirking! That does it! I close in with a quick blow to the body. He blocks it not without some difficulty which makes his irritating face take a more serious approach yet again. I quickly follow with another body blow, this time connecting right in his right side. He's not close to be gasping for air, but it did make him grunt in pain. That short moment of triumph ends rather abruptly when he decides to act like a dirty stinking cheater and headbutts me. Unprepared for the attack, I get knocked down on the floor, dazed. Shit, this looks bad. He's pretty tough and can actually cream me if I don't turn my quick-thinking on soon. Think, Ikeyama!

Almost subconsciously rolling out of harm's way various back-up plans get created in my head. Think of it as if it was... a boxing match? No. An alien? No. A sexual offender? Now that's more like it.

Springing back to my feet with an extra surge of energy awakening inside me I throw him a challenging glare. Amazing how powerful a placebo effect can be. His face briefly takes on an irritated scowl as he raises fists once again and moves not from his position. Huh. So this time he wants me to come over there. Well, I'll gladly follow suit! I rush at him, keeping my guard tight. He attempts a leg sweep yet again. Not this time, sucker: in response to that I jump in the air, giving my rush a bit more momentum, avoiding the attack and responding with my own, a refined slamming of both clenched fists against his stupid mug like some sort of fierce monkey. Works wonders, he actually reels back from the impact. A small trickle of blood runs down his face from his lower lip. Must have cut it.

Now we're talking. This also seems to impact him psychically. If he was raging silently and in focus until now, this is long gone. I can see him almost steaming with fury as he grits his teeth. There's also some change in his eyes: previously they were bored through all of our interactions despite his changes in voice and body language. Now, however, they took on a strange glint. I've seen that glint a few times when boxing. People who are confident of their fighting abilities and are suddenly proven otherwise often sport it, especially if their lesson was humiliating.

This is a glint of someone with clear murderous intent.

The supposed girlfriend of big lug also notices this as she pales a bit. She seems to be considering whether to jump in his way to try and stop this fight. Don't want to accidentally hit her. The big man himself rushes at me like a speeding truck, about as deadly and hardly maneuverable as one. I move out of the way, just in time to avoid an incoming clothesline, ducking under his extended arm. He stops to a halt and turns around in a frighteningly quick move, ready for another go. Just as he's about to rush again, the girl stops hesitating and jumps in front of him.

"Alright, stop it you two!" She exclaims sternly, her voice wavering just a little bit. Considering she's just put herself between two bloodthristy predators, I can't say I'm surprised. "Can't believe you actually fought over something as silly as this!" The glint in my opponent's eyes slowly vanishes as he straightens himself, scowling. I straighten myself as well, glaring at him still. A tough cookie, that one. If not for the fact he was likely holding back to not accidentally hit someone here he would be a bitch to fight against.

"This isn't about whether it's silly." He responds to the girl, taking his jacket and throwing it back on his back. "It's a principle of thing." He's back to his bored irritation, though he seems bit more relaxed now. Is it a respect coming from him? Maybe.

"Couldn't agree more." I nod, letting my battle instincts die out for now. "Didn't mean to scrap you that bad."

"Bad? I've barely felt that." He lets out something that you could possibly call a chuckle. It's more like some sort of snort-roar really. "You're good though. Been a while since I've had a good fight like that."

"Likewise, guy." I grin before approaching him. He tenses a little bit, but this time I mean no harm. He's my kind of bro alright. "Ikeyama Tsuyoshi. Nice to meet ya, big lug."

"Sensui Kazuya. Likewise, dwarf." Normally I would be up in his face, but I'm certain he ain't meaning it with offense in mind. We exchange handshakes. As expected, his grip is firm and strong. Ain't going to fall behind though so I return the favor. It's a pretty damn primitive way of domination, but hell if it isn't satisfying.

The girl sighs with relief although she still seems pretty peeved at both me and Sensui for starting that fight. Like he said though, it's a principle of thing. Some people can consider this barbaric, I consider this a sensible way of solving conflicts. Doing what's right.

"Glad to know you've put your animosities behind you. Kind of." She says before grabbing Sensui by the arm. "Now come on already, Kazuya, I'm gonna miss my lunch because of you!" The big man just kind of grunts something unspecified in response, giving me a small goodbye nod and letting himself be dragged away by the girl. People that were watching the fight seem a little disappointed by lack of definite outcome, but to hell with them. This might not be the best way to find friendships, but eh. You know what they say: defeat means friendship. Here it was more of a tie, but what the hell.

* * *

><p>Well, time to go and eat something myself. Cafeteria wasn't long walk away from the place where I've stopped to smack and be smacked.<p>

Dunno what I've expected after it. Pretty bog-standard garden-variety cafeteria. People are already gathering in groups too. I've noticed the trio of gossip girls from my class engaging in conversation with some green-haired gal, stopping periodically to giggle at something. Well, the trio is giggling anyway, the green-hair seems kinda bemused by this outcome. Casually looking around I also find Katsura-san sitting by herself and eating what seems to be a boxed lunch in complete silence. Kinda weird that nobody here even approached her to ask if they can sit to chat up or something. Weird. Is my theory about her being a Yakuza princess really possible? Because it's starting to look that way alright.

Other than that there are no people that particularly stand out. Guys and gals, chatting, eating, laughing. Just your average day in cafeteria. Noisy and crowded.

Guess I'll go and approach Katsura-san. Doing just that, I notice yet another girl that sits on her own. She's... tiny. As in, pretty damn miniscule, looking more like a junior high student. Red bow keeps her greenish hair together as she eats, looking around every now and then. She seems... hounded. As in, she looks like someone's about to go and torment her for no particular reason. I guess some jackass could pick on her for her small height, she really looks like a kid more than anything else.

"Ikeyama-san?" My classmate's voice snaps me out of thought. I turn around, blinking, to see Katsura-san looking at me. She seems kinda curious as she continues to stare at me as if I was some sort of mystic being. It's similar to that situations with those two shits a few days earlier though there's no fear involved now.

"Oh? Oh, sorry. Guess I kinda trailed off with thoughts and ended up here." I respond a little hesitantly, chuckling awkwardly. "Now that I'm here though, do you mind if I sit here?"

"Please, go ahead." She nods affrimatively. Well then, she's in a better mood than earlier today, that's a good thing. I take my seat and just as I'm ready to get started with my ramen... this happens.

A couple of girls approaches the tiny girl sitting by herself. Can't hear what they're saying, but from what I can see the red bow doesn't seem too happy with their arrival. The leader of these bullies also has the most smug face that I've seen in a long damn time. Another one shoves her off her seat. Red bow's clearly-is she crying?

Oh, that fucking does it. I raise up from my seat, followed by surprised glance of Katsura-san.

"Is something wrong, Ikeyama-san?" She asks me.

"There is, in fact. I'll be back." I begin to close in the direction of this whole event, progressively more furious at this cruel lack of empathy this whole damn cafeteria has. No one has even batted an eye on this. None stood up, not even a single disapproving glare. Fuck that, I say! You think this is some sort of fucking normal behavior, how kids should act?! Well, I don't fucking think so!

Before I'm able to approach them close enough to throw a couple of threats and insults at the bullies however someone already does it for me. Another guy, just slightly taller than me. Looks like your average teen, with black short hair and dark eyes. Through his face I can see determination as he begins to tell the bullies off. I still can't hear the damn thing, but whatever he's telling them seems to be working. The leader of bullies just kind of scoffs and legs it alongside her flunkies. Heh. Good to know there are still fine folks out there.

Still, there's one crying girl. They might be back for more. After a moment of hesitation I decide to approach them either way.

"Oi, you guys okay?" I ask. The red bow seems to have calmed down a little as she looks at me, giving a small nod.

"Yeah. Scared them off, those four." The guy responds, also nodding. "Thanks for concern."

"To be honest, I was midway of springing into action, but you stepped in first. Maybe it's a good thing."

"Threatened them with school suspension. This should work for now." Well yeah, you don't look like the kind of guy that throws around threats of beating people up. You look way too scrawny. And kinda derpy, to be honest. "If they come back, I'll have some other thing in store." A stark contrast to Sensui, this guy. Looks like your stereotypical nice dude. We lack them these days, so it's good to know they're still around.

"And you?" I switch my attention to the red bow.

"...I-I'm okay." She quietly responds, wiping off tears with her sleeve. God, she's even tinier from up close. Like some kind of living doll.

"Glad to know." I nod, staring back at the guy. "If they give you trouble again, to either of you, I'm available to smack them around. Name's Ikeyama Tsuyoshi." The black-haired dude seems a little surprised when I mention smacking women around. Guess I shouldn't be surprised either.

"Itou Makoto. Nice to meet you." He says with a rather unsure voice, glancing at the tiny girl every now and then.

"...Kiyoura. Kiyoura Setsuna." She speaks out quietly, still kinda nervous after the whole ordeal.

"Cool. Like I said, if any of you have problems with these four, I'm your guy to help."

"We'll keep that in mind."

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was pretty boring. After a lunch with Katsura-san we went back to class where I've been officially killed three times by a history teacher droning something about sengoku. I know all of this already, god dammit. My ponytailed neighbor seems a bit more attentive than earlier, but that was just a little bit. The three gossips were paying hardly any attention, instead focusing their stares at me and occasionally switching to Katsura-san. Guess people have heard about my scrap with Sensui. It's only logical it would become some hot topic.<p>

Finally done with all these annoying lectures and free to go I made a straight beeline towards train station. God, fucking finally, day one is officially over. Gonna have to look around in school's repertoire of sports clubs some later time though.

Catching the first possible train I can't help but wonder. I've already met some people and they don't seem half-bad. Well yeah, I didn't talk to any of them for a longer while, but they seem alright. Not to mention I was able to witness that there are other bully hunters in this school which is twice as good. That Itou guy looks like a pretty okay dude if maybe a bit spineless. Then again, standing up to anyone requires some drive and he definitely had it.

So far, Sakakino Gakuen scores a big plus on my scoreboard.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, guess it's done. What do you think? :)<strong>


	3. Railroads And Gravitation

**Guess that I won't waste any more time and proceed with yet another chapter.**

* * *

><p>The loud and obnoxious alarm clock wakes me up from my peaceful slumber, instigating lots of swearing. God, I miss my break already.<p>

Slowly and clumsily gathering all of my stuff I find myself wondering briefly about yesterday's events. Katsura-san in my class. Sensui. Itou and Kiyoura. All of them were already some sort of acquaintances, right? Sure, the last three were kinda briefly encountered, but they still count.

Browsing through my clothes and vowing yet again to finally clean up the whole damn place so it'll be shinier than a bald guy's head I finally composing something of an outfit I come to a striking realization that tomorrow's Saturday already. Kinda liking the fact that I'm gonna have two extra free days after all of this preview at school before the real deal starts.

I kinda wonder if Katsura-san would like to hang out. Approaching her is a challenge, but back at the cafeteria during our little chatter about everything she seemed somewhat more relaxed. Then again, I guess the fact that there was a desk between us kinda offered some sort of safety bar. We don't know each other too well either, but dammit, so far my weekend seems to be some sort of boring do-nothing couple of days. I hate hate hate doing nothing. Makes me feel... well, like nothing. I mean, I guess I could just poke around and see if I can find any hot spots that attract interesting people, but relying on someone who actually knows their surroundings – like Katsura-san, I assume – seems like a better option.

Still, it's gonna be the next day, so now I need to get myself ready for yet another day of boring lectures about boring stuff. Gonna see if they have any worthwhile clubs to sign into too.

* * *

><p>Sakakino's got a strangely big amount of railroads. For a town that's below one hundred thousands of people, that is. This is one of the greatest things actually, since I can be on the other end of the town in fifteen minutes or so. On the contrary however, it lacks other forms of public transport. It's not that big of an issue, but I could kill for a bus to some more remote places.<p>

Our house's about ten minutes on foot away from Ritsuhana, our train station. If one were to take a ride outside the city there would be only one more station, Yamaonnago, to leave its borders. As I was looking up Sakakino's network of railroads I've noticed that Harahirama is on the other side of the town. Too bad.

Well anyway, I'm en route to school right now. As expected, it's packed with people of most various kinds: salarymen hurrying to work, students of various ages, old and young, all of them in a nice rectangular package of a train's car. After observing stuff outside the window for a moment I turn around to check if I might see some familiar faces around. Doesn't seem to be the case: all of students here look like strangers to me. No, wait. I think I can recognize one of the girls sitting. That strand of hair sticking out of the top of her head like a sore thumb is way too recognizable. I swear it engraved in my mind or something. She's currently busy doing a whole lot of nothing, looking through the window and appearing bored.

I guess I don't have anything else to do, so might as well go and chat her up.

"Hey there." I start, giving a small wave. She turns to face me, looking mildly surprised, but that expires quickly when she shows a small smile.

"Oh, you're that guy from yesterday." She responds, gesturing for me to come and sit down. I eagerly follow suit, seeing as this place was apparently still unoccupied by anyone. "Ikeyama, was it?"

"You've got that right." Nodding, I look her up briefly. Nothing too unusual about her apart from that strand of hair. Well yeah, she does seem pretty energetic. This is the face that hardly frowns. "Sorry for that, by the way."

"It's okay, it's not like anyone was hurt. Too badly, that is." The girl lets out a small giggle. "I'm Sekai. Saionji Sekai." First name already? Huh, she must be the approachable kind of girl. Makes me wonder why she seemed so, I dunno, less energetic back then with Sensui. Gonna have to chat him up about this.

"Ikeyama Tsuyoshi, but you know that already."

"Sure I do. I'm pretty sure lots of people at school know your and Kazuya's names already." She's got a point. I can only hope that teachers here at least a bit more lenient about such scraps or I'm gonna get into trouble so far as on day two. Which is not preferred, obviously.

"Hey, that's one way of getting to know people, right?" I let out a small chuckle. Saionji chuckles alongside me.

"Sorry, can't say I'm into it. So, what class are you in?"

"One Four. You?"

"One Three. Something tells me these three years are gonna be awesome." She seems enthusiastic about this. "Kazuya's in there too in case you were looking for him." Oh hey, that's a useful info to have.

"Thanks." The train slowly halts to a stop as a mechanical speaker says "Osharin". Some people leave, but neither of them is a Sakakino Gakuen student. Some new students do come inside though, namely my ponytailed neighbor from class. A pleasant surprise to see her here. Saionji seems to perk up a bit more at her sight.

"Oi, Otome!" She calls out. That's her name, huh. Duly noted. My classmate turns to see us and gives a small wave before approaching us.

"Hey." The ponytail greets us. Didn't notice it before, but she's got brown eyes, just to fit her hair color. I don't think there's a lot of people like that who's got curtains matching the windows. "Meeting new people, Sekai?"

"Yup."

"You're my neighbor in class, aren't you?" Otome faces me, mildly curious. "Don't think we talked before. Name's Katou Otome." She almost shoots out that hand for a handshake. Huh. Dunno what to make of it.

"Ikeyama Tsuyoshi. Nice meeting ya." I respond in kind, shaking her hand. A brief portion of my mind wants to squeeze her hand just like Sensui's, but I keep it contained. God, I'm not some dumb brick that needs to show his physical domination to everyone. "You two knew each other before high school then, I take?" I glance at Saionji.

"A-yup. Been actually knowing each other since kindergarten." She says cheerfully. "Otome here's always been the tomboy." Guess that explains the handshake. "The prodigy at sports, right, Otomin?" Katou flinches a little at the sound of the nickname. "How did that article in "Sakakino Weekly" called you? "The Rising Star of Basketball" or am I mistaken?"

"Sheesh, there's really no need to bring this up." The ponytail rolls her eyes, mildly irritated. "I didn't even do that much during that match."

"Basketball?" I butt in, glancing at Katou. "No offense, but you don't look like the type."

"That's what they all say." A brief sense of satisfaction crosses her face. "I'm not that tall, yeah, but I've got my ways of keeping up." I decide to sit this one in silence, considering she's taller than me anyway. "So how's Sakakino so far, Ikeyama?"

"Pretty decent, I guess." I shrug. Yeah, there are some fine folks in there. On the other hand, bullies that picked up on Kiyoura come to mind... "Don't know too many people or too much about the school though, so I can't say."

"Thinking of joining some sports club?" You bet I do. Question is, what kind of sports clubs do they have in store here?

"I guess. You know anything about them?" Katou nods affirmatively.

"Well, there's our basketball club, but it's girls only since we don't have a guys section." I'm pretty okay with this. I don't mind b-ball, but it's getting annoying every now and then when you're the shortest guy on the field. "I think someone tried to set up a football club, but that's likely not gonna work. No offense, Ikeyama, but most guys here are rather wimpy when it comes down to sports."

"Are they now?" I raise an eyebrow. Don't tell me we have so many Itous around. I don't mind the abundance of bully hunters, but if they all look like your average jellyfish it's starting to become troubling.

"Yeah. You could count them on two hands really." That sucks. If it's really so bad as Katou says I might consider trying to get into basketball team as an extra member. Who knows, maybe I can fit right in? It's not like gender-mixed teams are something new.

"Oh, that's our stop, guys." Saionji pipes in. Yeah, seems like a sea of uniforms just formed near the door. Guess we'd better get going.

* * *

><p>Spending some more time on idle chatter with both Otome and Sekai we finally approach the main gates. Time for yet another boring day of lectures. It'll be worth the wait though since weekend's just ahead of us. After the final bell rings today it's gonna be two and a half days of relax before the full school week starts.<p>

Saying bye to Saionji on our way to the classroom, me and Katou head for our class, chatting some more. My ponytailed classmate seems like an okay kind of gal judging by what I saw so far. Glad to know I've got such a person in class that I can simply chat with about most minor stuff. No offense to Katsura-san, but her social skills aren't quite to par. Speaking of the devil herself, she doesn't seem to be in the classroom yet.

"So, Ikeyama, got any plans for weekend?" Otome asks, sitting on her place.

"Can't say I have. Why do you ask?"

"Sekai called me yesterday evening, said she wants to hang out with a couple of her guys from class and me. Guess she won't mind an extra person." An opportunity to hang out, have a good time _and_ meet a couple of new folks? That sounds pretty damn amazing.

My thoughts however don't seem as content, briefly tracing back to Katsura-san. I was thinking that maybe I could ask her to hang out earlier, wasn't I? Then again, she's not the most sociable person around. One guy already seems a bit much to her, but a whole group? She would degrade into sweating mess of social awkwardness. I guess I can ask her about this once she gets here...

"Oi, Earth to Ikeyama." Katou nudges my shoulder lightly, snapping my attention back to her. "Don't space out on me like that."

"Sorry, sorry. If I can, I'd love to." I respond with a small, embarrassed smile. "Do you mind if I take someone with me though?"

"You'd have to ask Sekai about it, but I don't think she would." The ponytail jiggles as Otome shakes her head a bit. "Got someone particular in mind, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Yeah, that girl who sits above us. Katsura-san." Speak of the devil, the long-haired beauty finally appears as one of the last students in classroom, panting heavily. She must have been running. Wonder what almost got her late for class. "The one by the entrance." Katou turns her head to glance at her. It catches my attention that she seems rather surprised by what she sees. Jealousy over whatever girls are jealous about? I hope not.

"Like I said, you'd have to ask Sekai." My neighbor finally cuts this discussion in two, her tone just a little bit harsher than before. I really hope this won't turn into some feud. I guess Katsura-san could be envied a lot of things, namely that figure of hers.

Giving a small nod – reciprocated too – to her as she passes we don't get too much time to discuss anything as the bell rings. Our homeroom teacher steps inside yet again, this time dressed in some sort of outrageous purple dress. It hurts as fuck to look at her as she begins droning almost immediately.

* * *

><p>Somebody kill me now.<p>

I don't understand a word that she's saying. All I caught is something about Newton Isaac, whoever the hell that is. Otome shares my lack of sentiment, just kind of lying her head on the desk and staring at some unspecified point on the blackboard. Katsura-san, on the other hand, writes sharply and quickly, just like she did yesterday. I briefly let my glance move around and stop on the trio, no, just one of the gossip girls, the one with the headband. Wonder where the other two are.

"At fifth of July of year 1687 Newton has released one of his most known tractates where he described his law of universal gravitation in full detail known as Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in Latin..." What? That sounded like she's just put a cat in the wringer. I glance at Katou but she's just as clueless as me, apparently trying to repeat that insane title soundlessly. So far she doesn't seem to be seeing much success. "Know, what does the law of universal gravitation say, Kumi-san?" Oh boy, already asking questions. I look around to catch a glimpse of the unlucky bastard. Turns out it's the headbands girl. She has no clue if her looking as if she was trying to get some air is any indication. The teacher sighs with annoyance. "Please pay attention next time. Well then..." Shit, she's looking for a new victim. Try to look as inconspiciuous as possible, Ikeyama. You can do it. "Ryan-kun?" This time it's that generic guy from yesterday that caught my attention. He's clueless either, although he tries to buy himself some time unlike Kumi.

"The law of universal gravitation says that, uh..." Lots of theatric thinking. "That, uh, two bodies... I think, they kinda... uh..."

"That will be enough." Another annoyed sigh. To his credit, he tried. Seen that strategy in lots of teleshows. Is surprisingly effective. "Otome-san?" Phew, just barely dodged the bullet. Can't say Katou's lucky here as she just barely contains a curse as she starts thinking. It's pretty obvious that she's in the same hopeless position as the other two though.

"Two bodies attract each other and, hm, those can be any two bodies..." You can do it, girl. "And... that's all I know." She gives up with a sigh.

"Well, you at least told us something. It's better than nothing." Otome seems relieved that she managed to dodge the ire of our gaudy teacher, letting a small sigh. "Alright then, does anyone here know the full definition? Please go ahead, Kotonoha-san." Kinda knew she will volunteer to provide the answer.

"Newton's law of universal gravitation states that any two bodies in the universe attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them." The long-haired beauty recites it without fall. A few surprised stares seem to observe her. I dunno how it works in high schools, but junior highschoolers usually don't tolerate people who show off with their knowledge. I'm sure she's just unaware of it though and will quickly adapt. Hopefully.

"...egghead." My ears catch Otome's irritated grumble as she returns to her staring at that one spot.

"Spot-on, Kotonoha-san." Previously annoyed, our gaudy teacher lightens up a bit. "Please sit down, thank you." Katsura-san does as ordered before going back to her notes, not paying this brief moment of attention more than a notice.

* * *

><p>Lunch break, fucking finally.<p>

Seems like Katou will use it to yet again sleep some more. Makes me wonder why's that. She doesn't seem like a type to sit until late night and search through the web. Guess I'll ask her later. For now I've got two objectives in mind: finding class One Three and asking Katsura-san if she wants to hang out with Saionji and others.

When nudged, Otome gave me some pointers – although she was rather grumpy when doing so – to direct me there. Seems there was some commotion going on. Sensui was sticking out of that crowd of uniforms like a sore thumb, currently with his arms folded. I've approached the whole scene to see some girl knocked out on the floor with a big red bruise on her forehead. Tending to her where Itou, some panicky tall guy with messy hair and Saionji. Near them there was a baseball, likely the cause of this incident.

The way I see it, the tall guy threw the baseball to someone and it hit the girl instead and knocked the living shit out of her. Hope it's nothing long-lasting. Also just noticed that she's got some completely ridiculous hairdo. It resembles normal pigtails, just turned into giant rings instead. How are they even kept together is anyone's guess.

She finally wakes up after some nervous anticipation and the first thing she does is to jump right back on her feet and punch the tall sap right in the face, screaming expletives at him. He manages to dodge by jumping back, but this causes him to trip on that unlucky baseball, do a sommersault in the air and land face-first on the floor, accompanied by general laughter. He's fine, thankfully, or we'd be having another nervous moment here. Itou's the only one that looks at least mildly concerned about his classmate's well-being. A moment later, some tall – as in, freakishly tall – girl volunteers to take the rings girl to the infirmary. The crowd starts to gradually thin, Sensui included.

"Yo, you two." I address both Saionji and Itou. The single strand of hair jumps in place as she turns to face me.

"Oh, hey Tsuyoshi." Dunno when we started going on first name basis, but eh. She is the kind of girl to just skip formalities as soon as possible. Itou just nods slightly.

"Nobody got injured here in this incident?"

"Unless you count Sawanaga's remains of pride, not a single thing." He responds, glancing at the tall guy still sprawled on the floor. "From what I saw Kuroda-san isn't hurt too bad."

"Glad to know." I nod before turning my attention to Sekai. "Otome pointed me to you. Said you're gathering people to hang out with at the weekend." The girl perks up some more. I didn't even think it was possible.

"Sure I do." She confirms with gusto. "From what I see we'll be going in quite a big group too. Planning on grabbing someone with you?" Huh. She's insightful.

"Yeah. I'll have to ask her if she has the time though. Not sure if she's the type to appreciate big groups. How many people will be then?" Saionji thinks for a bit before starting to count on fingers.

"Let me think... myself, Kazuya, Otome, Makoto, Setsuna, Hikari, Nanami, Sawanaga, you and your friend... that makes it ten." Hoo boy. Dunno if Katsura-san will appreciate such crowds.

"Alright. I'll go and ask her then. Where do you plan to head out?" Sekai's smile briefly vanishes as she furrows a brow.

"You don't have any plan on hand, do you, Sekai?" Itou asks with a tone that makes me think he expected it from the beginning.

"Sh-shut up, you dummy, I'm thinking!" Saionji responds, all flustered. Geez, no need to be so emotional about it. Eventually, a thought crosses her mind as she lightens up. "I know! There's that place with arcade games near Radish. We can go and get a snack there once we're done with these." Huh. I guess that sounds like a plan.

"You'll have to fill me in about where are all these places." I mention.

"No problem, gimme your phone and I'll write in my number!" Fishing for cellphone in my pocket and finding there a few coins, a paper of some sort and a LEGO figurine – why do I even have these there? - I finally manage to find it. It's a bit rusty and has lost its cover, but it's working still. "Oh boy. Did your phone get flushed in the toilet or something?" Not the one to mince words, eh, Saionji?

"Damaged in a scrap from junior high school." I shrug indifferently, handing her my phone. "Is working, so I ain't complaining." Sekai doesn't waste time and quickly writes in her number and a number of someone else. And then someone else.

"Alright, here you go. Put in there numbers to Makoto and Otomin too." The look on Itou's face says it all. Well anyway, these will surely come in handy.

"Thanks. I'll chat you up later then. Say hi to Kiyoura-san for me." Turning on my heel and waving goodbye I head out to cafeteria, where Katsura-san's likely to be.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay. What do you think so far, you guys? Don't hesitate to write a review. :)<strong>


	4. Coffee Break

Cafeteria is about as loud and bustling with life as it was yesterday. Thankfully I have no problems with localizing Katsura-san. She sits by herself yet again. I honestly just can't wrap my head around that. She's a stunning beauty and yet not a single guy or girl bar me approaches her?

I wonder if it's somehow related to my scrap with Sensui from yesterday. Before it happened I was "caught" by gossip girls talking with Katsura-san. Maybe through infectious rumors I suddenly became her boyfriend without realizing this? And since they saw me putting up an even fight against my much larger opponent they might be scared of my wrath as her boyfriend. Hopefully this is not a case though. Maybe nobody just approached her, just like that?

In any case she nods hello to me as she spots me. The long-haired beauty seems occupied with her ramen soup.

"Hey." I greet her, nodding back. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Not at all." She smiles slightly. Guess she warms up to people she trusts relatively fast. That's good to know, thought I was still kinda intimidating her.

"Gotta say, that was some display of knowledge back there in classroom." I mention the event from earlier today, taking my seat. Katsura-san shakes her head, blushing slightly. Guess she's not used to compliments.

"It was nothing." She responds, a little flustered. "I was just making careful notes through the lecture is all. Between you and me though, Ikeyama-san, I didn't expect that many misses from our teacher."

"...it's day two and they're throwing laws of gravity mumbo jumbo at us already, Katsura-san."

"Is it really that bad?" She seems honestly surprised. I'm starting to think she attended private junior high, because there's no way in hell she would ask me this question otherwise. They're known for being hellishly elite and she seems like she would be comfortable in there.

"...I don't feel like I should really respond to that." I shake my head, a mixture of nervous chuckle and resignation creeping across my face. "In any case, I wanted to ask you a question, Katsura-san."

"Oh? What is it, Ikeyama-san?" Alright, here we go.

"Well, a friend of mine is gathering people for a group, a little get-together, I guess. I was wondering if you'd want to go with us." The long haired beauty gives me what seems to be a rather analitycal glance before looking away rather shyly.

"...I, um, I don't think I'm too good with crowds..." She doesn't seem to be too sure of herself though.

"Well, you could meet some people, right?"

"...will there be many boys?"

"Wait, what?" What kind of question is that? Is she really that shy or am I missing something? Katsura-san burns like a beetroot before looking away.

"I-I wasn't s-saying a thing..." She stutters in response, trying to get out of this sticky situation.

"You did. You asked if there's gonna be many boys there."

"N-no, I didn't."

"Yes, you did." A moment of awkward silence persists as she looks everywhere else but at me. "Uh, look, Katsura-san, sorry for making you, uh, uncomfortable. I just thought that you might like the prospect of meeting someone and..."

"No no, it's okay. I'm just, I... I don't really have good experiences with boys." ...I think I know what the issue here is. Katsura-san seems to think the majority of people invited by Sekai will be guys. Then again, I'm not too sure who are those people she decided to invite as well with some exceptions.

"...I, well, if there's gonna be any trouble I'll be more than willing to smack the offender around." I respond, summoning a grin. She doesn't really seem reassured. "And, uh, I don't think Sekai would allow it. She's the one who was sending invitations, by the way."

"...I'm sorry, but I, um, I don't think I'll be much fun to be around." The long-haired beauty comes up with a rather forced smile. I guess she really just isn't the type to meet up with groups of people.

"Well alright, I won't be pressing the matter." I respond with a shrug. Katsura-san nods, I think this might be a grateful nod. We spend the rest of the lunch break in rather awkward silence.

Well played, Ikeyama. You're truly the master of social interactions.

* * *

><p>It is the time.<p>

Today's the day. The big show and I can't be bothered to lift a pinky. Sleep. Sleep is all I'm thinking about. It's seven forty in the morning...

Oh for fuck's sake, Saionji, stop calling me.

Maybe she'll stop once she notices that I'm a human being rather than some machine operating twenty four hours per day? She seriously can't be calling me that early. It's Saturday morning, it's the time when ordinary men and women sleep...

And she's at it again.

Ugh. It's pointless to resist.

"...'lo?" I let out something that one could perceive as words. "Uh-huh. Gimme a reason why I shouldn't kill you dead. Being cute's not one of them." A groan. She's so chipper even that early it's almost unnatural. "I... what?! Nine o'clock, are you fuckin' kidding me?! I mean, sorry, but put yourself in my shoes. I'm not some abomination that can get up so early in the morning. Yes, I know you take offense to that. Yes, I know I'm cranky. It's freakin' Saturday morning... ugh. Fine. See you later then." So apparently she rallied people to get up on nine o'clock. I'm gonna find some mean-sounding name for her this instant for that.

Well then, guess I'm gonna have to spring back to life real quick. Browsing through my rather modest selection of garments I find myself wondering about the incoming meeting. I know that Otome and Itou are pretty cool, even if the latter's kinda dorky. Sekai's a league of her own, but I can't say she's really that annoying. There will be Sensui and I think we've already established some sort of partnership, but other than these four I don't really know any other contestants. Sure, I got to see Kiyoura a bit, but it's not like we talked a lot, right?

Deciding to go with a black sleeveless shirt, a light leather jacket flung over my shoulders and a pair of jeans I get myself some breakfast before departing. Sekai sent me some instructions regarding my move through Sakakino to get to those arcade games in time. Thankfully the path seemed clear enough

Alright then. In we go. Making friends, the only right thing to do, presented to you by Tsuyoshi Ikeyama.

* * *

><p>Spotting Saionji wasn't particularly difficult. Apart from the ever-present strand of hair she was just dressed particularly brightly, in a pink tank top with some flimsy cream blouse with snow white buttons adorning her shoulders and arms and a skirt ending just below the knee, there's also a small bag on her left shoulder. Well, that and she was just kinda hopping in place, waving her hand around like crazy to get my attention.<p>

"Oi, Tsuyoshi! Over here!" Not wasting time I've got myself moving towards her. Seems like I was the only person out of the group to heed her tyrannical demand and show up that early.

"Yo." I respond, giving a small wave. "Looking good, Sekai." The girl before me grins sheepishly.

"Good enough to not kill me dead?" I manage a small chuckle as I shake my hand.

"Your case's still under consideration." Saionji pulls off what is the fakest fear I've seen before reverting back to that impish little smile. "Anyway, where's everyone else?"

"Some of them had other plans." The girl frowns a bit. "Kazuya had an important meeting with a friend of his. Makoto said something about his dad crashing by though he didn't really sound all too happy... Nanami mentioned her boyfriend, so I guess it's way more important..." That starts to look less like a get-together and more like another of Saionji's crazy plans, somehow involving me this time. Not too happy about it. "Hikari has to help in her parents' shop and Taisuke said something about photographs for the newest issue of Sakakino Weekly."

"...so, who does that leave for us?" I ask flatly, internally sighing. It's bad enough that I'll be the only male in this group, but to think that almost everyone had _something_ of importance to do this weekend was just... too suspicious.

"Well, there'll be Secchan and Otomin!" Four people then, two of which I already knew somewhat better. I suppose it's not bad.

"There's that then. When can we expect them?"

"Secchan said she'll be a bit later due to some house chores, but Otomin should be here any second now..." Saionji takes out a cellphone and gives the screen a brief look before frowning. "Why did I put it on silent again...?" She murmurs in bemusement as she pushes a few more buttons. Then, against all logic and reason, her frown actually deepens.

"What's wrong?"

"Otome can't make it." Pocketing the phone the girl before me sighs before rubbing her temple with her other hand. "Her sister needs help with some school project and it's gonna take a whole day supposedly." Well. Talk about unlucky circumstances.

"What are we going to do then?" Sekai isn't really sure of herself right now. I guess I can relate, everybody just kinda pissing on her idea. Sure, important matters, but couldn't they mention it earlier? Suddenly, some sort of idea crosses her mind if that worried frown turning right around into her trademark little smile is any indication.

"Fancy a coffee?" She asks, grinning.

* * *

><p>Saionji led me to a small cafe not far away from our school. Good to know that we have a place like this just ahead, seems like it would be good for meetings. The cafe itself is pretty ordinary. Nothing special in it except maybe for the fact that they have it pretty cheap, at least for students. The owner of said cafe is a graduate from Sakakino Gakuen, so he offers a rather big discount for almost everything, most importantly coffee, soft drinks and a number of varieties of cakes and such.<p>

Today it's pretty quiet in here, but then again it's Saturday. As rather cozy as this place is there are better locations to be spending your free weekend time.

Before we got there Sekai phoned Kiyoura about how there's a change of plans. Apparently, according to her, the change from arcade to a remote cafe was well-received.

I won't call myself a big fan of coffee, but every now and then when there's an occasion to drink it, sure, why not? That being said, considering what kind of hell it can make inside one's organism I usually just settle for lighter shades, such as cappuccino rather than black. Saionji seemed surprised at my choice.

"Thought you'll be taking something heavy." She remarks as she sips her own cappuccino.

"Not a big fan." I shrug in response. "If there has to be coffee, I prefer it light." Saionji thinks she's subtle, giving a supposedly discreet glance at my arm every once in a while. Those are just brief look-aways, but they're still there.

"So... how long does it take to get a biceps that well-toned?" She finally asks, putting her best "innocent curiosity" expression.

"Some time." One more shrug. "Been training boxing for some time, it just comes naturally. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, um, just curious, I guess. I recalled our conversation en route to school few days earlier. Otomin was with us, you surely remember." I nod affrimatively. "She mentioned how guys around aren't particularly, hm, sporty. That fight with Kazuya aside you're going to be sticking out of the crowd a lot."

"Will I?" I don't really know about it. It's not like I'm some sort of a lumbering behemoth like Sensui is, no offense to him. Sure, I don't think I'm gonna be wearing the uniform like it should be done, but arms aren't that much eye-catching, are they?

"A bit. Expect ladies to swoon all around you." Now you're just being mean, Saionji.

"Very funny. At least you don't swoon. Either you're not a lady or my charm isn't strong enough." The girl pouts a bit before giving me a light punch on the shoulder.

"You'll have to excuse me, Ikeyama-san, but my standards are higher than that." We both exchange a chuckle. I have to admit, it's rather refreshing sometimes, all this small talk.

Quite suddenly, Sekai's cellphone rings again. Likely Kiyoura. Just don't tell me she too can't show up on the meeting.

"Hello? Hey, Secchan. Huh? Oh, sure thing, where are you? Um, hello? Hello?" The increasing anxiety in Saionji's voice catches my attention. Just what's happening on the other side of that phone call? "...she hung up." We exchange a brief glance before quite literally jumping out of our seats. It's no good and I think Sekai knows this: Kiyoura got herself in some trouble, somehow. Hopefully the cause is not who I think it might be.

"Where is she?" I ask. No time for melodrama, it's high time I get to smack someone around.

"She mentioned a bookstore near Sakakino Gakuen. It's on the other side of the school."

"Got it. Call the police, I've got some trash to dispose of." Whoever it is that causes Kiyoura trouble, they'd better have some good life insurance, because I ain't leaving this one out.

* * *

><p>Sometimes I can't help but wonder that life can be extremely unlucky for some.<p>

I've found the tiny red bow in an alleyway near said bookstore, hidden from an average man's view. It's only early afternoon, so I wouldn't expect anyone to get jumped just a few meters away from the main street, but then again some people just bat an eye on this as if nothing happened. They're as guilty as molesters and rapists doing the thing.

The two men blocking her way of escape, almost pinning her to the wall... the very same two that molested Katsura-san on my first day in Sakakino. Seems like they didn't learn anything or perhaps thought that they can try and have some so-called fun with girls vastly different than the last one.

They're unaware of me, but they also seem way more bolder than they used to. Is it because Katsura-san is supposedly of higher social status and their despicable deed would be that much easier to find out? Doesn't matter: sexual harassment is just that and deserves a punishment far harsher than just prison.

She's more like a grade schooler than anything else, for fuck's sake. Are they that desperate or rather that deviant? The taller one even has a nerve to lift her chin up to inspect her face closer. Unlike Katsura-san in Kiyoura's case there's absolutely no resistance, not even the smallest attempt. Likely she's far too terrified to lift a finger, let alone defend herself. Then again, Katsura-san also trains iaido for all it's worth and all in all seems a bit more physically healthy while Kiyoura... in all honestly she's probably the kind of person to easily get sick.

They're not aware of my presence, neither is the girl they're molesting. Good. I'm done giving out warnings.

Without wasting much time I put a hand on shorter one's shoulder. He turns right around, surprised and just in time to get nailed by right straight directly to the jaw. The force of my strike is enough to send him to the ground in a daze already. Seems like they didn't still quite recover from earlier. The other freezes right in front of me, his back still turned. Kiyoura herself is clearly unsure whether to be surprised, terrified or amazed.

"...I think I've made myself clear back then, didn't I?" The man doesn't respond, but his legs are beginning to shake. Cute to see him finally come to terms with how badly he and his pal fucked themselves right now. "Crystal fucking clear, in fact." With a scream that is a mixture of berserker rage and wounded animal's howl he swings right around to hit me with an offhand. I sway away to safety. The man before me is nothing but a beast right now as he tries to slam his fist into me without any reason or rhythm, allowing me to easily dodge it and deliver a blow to the liver, followed by another one from the other side and wrapping up with a left upper. Molester recoils from the punch, but holds his ground. Strange, considering he too was rather beaten up after our last fight his combat prowess only seemed to increase rather than decrease. Perhaps it's adrenaline kicking it. Fight for survival, creep, because I'm not going to make this easy for you.

He pulls out something shiny out of his pocket that rapidly extends, revealing a threatening-looking knife. A switchblade. Looks like he came prepared this time.

"D-don't you move..." He stammers, waving it in front of himself as if it could save him right now. I take a step forward, slowly putting up dukes. Panicky or no, that's still a knife and I don't feel like getting gutted because I was too careless. "Don't you move or I'll, I, I'll gut that b-bitch like a turkey!" To emphasize he makes a brief gesture with his other hand towards Kiyoura, but doesn't lose his eyes off me. He knows there's no turning back. Threats like that are a border between beating up and brutalizing.

Kiyoura's scared out of her wits, but she seems to be planning something. Not good. If she moves a muscle he really might turn around and swing at her. I give her a small glance, hopefully to dissuade her from her plan. She returns it and nods meekly, keeping hugging the wall.

"I give you three seconds to drop the knife." I say, focusing back on the man. "Put it down, I'll let you go."

"B-bullshit." He mumbles in response, but the hand holding the switchblade shakes.

"One." The molester holds the knife still, staring at me as if I was a demon or something equally terrifying. "Two." He almost jumps back to the wall and makes a clumsy motion towards Kiyoura, but without his knife. Seems he accidentally dropped it and never even noticed.

"Three." One step and one wide hook applied to enemy's jaw or rather, just next to it, missing him on purpose, the arm slowing to a stop near the wall, cutting his one way of escaping. He's chalk-white by now, even once he sees that his own fear probably saved his sorry hide from face demolition. "This is the last time I'm letting you and your crony go." I look straight into man's eyes. All I can make out of his is primal terror. "You listen to me well, because I don't like repeating myself. If you so much as be nearby any girl in a uniform, any girl and any uniform, I will know, I will find you and you will fucking regret your whole miserable life once I do. Are we clear?" He doesn't respond, likely still completely frozen in place. "ARE WE FUCKING CRYSTAL CLEAR?!" Seeing as this has no effect I decide to just cut the restraints and yell right at that disgusting filth. The man before me shrinks in a second and nods rapidly. "Good. Now scram before I change my mind." Letting him go the once bold molester scurries in such a hurry one'd think it's Death itself chasing him. Myself and Kiyoura are the only ones left in the alleyway. "You okay?" I ask her.

"...yes." That must have been quite a show as her breath is still shallow and hasty. I let out a small sigh.

"Sorry. I guess I'm kinda extreme in what I do. They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"N-no, I'm fine." Man, I'm having a deja vu. It's like the exact same thing happened back then with Katsura-san. "...t-that was pretty cool." Wait, what? Did I hear that one right? "How you... um, you dealt with them. I'm... that was s-something straight out of an action movie."

"Oh. Well, uh, thanks for the compliment, I guess." I smile awkwardly in response. Man, you wouldn't think a tiny doll-like girl like herself likes this kind of thing, would you? "C'mon, let's get out of this crummy alley." Kiyoura nods eagerly, a brief smile of appreciation showing.

* * *

><p><strong>I'd like to apologize for those titanic delays. I'm not gonna lie, my initial enthusiasm over it went down rather fast, but I thought it would be a shame to let this one go to waste. Hopefully you're willing to forgive me. Another chapters will be appearing infrequently, but they'll be there. I'm of course open for any suggestions and reflections of yours. :)<strong>


	5. Spin the Bottle

Sure, I said that I'm letting the creep go... but I don't recall mentioning anything about Saionji or the policewoman she got with herself. As such, both molesters have been apprehended and taken to custody. There was a bit of questioning regarding all three of us, but it's been confirmed that my act of knocking the shit out of one was in defense of Kiyoura. They let me go with a warning: don't rough them up so badly.

"And then Ikeyama-san just swept down on them like an eagle or some other bird of prey…" It's kinda worrying, to be honest. Setsuna's been at it for some time already now and, well, it's making me feel a bit awkward. I must have left some impression on her, that much is certain, but… I don't know, it doesn't seem right to me to make such a big fuss out of it. I did the only right thing to do, but that's it.

Then again, who knows what could happen if I weren't there to save her from these two.

"Geez, Secchan, one'd think you're becoming Tsuyoshi's fanboy." Saionji laughs awkwardly in response, likely feeling that perhaps this is kinda getting out of hand. Sekai's remark seemed to have stopped Kiyoura in her stream of words as a blush appeared on her face.

"No, I…" She mumbles, fiddling with her fingers. For some reason I'm thinking this is even worse.

"Don't worry about it, Setsuna." I decide to say, shaking my head. "It happened and you weren't hurt. It's the thing that matters."

"Yup!" Sekai nods eagerly. "We're glad you're okay, Secchan." The tiny girl smiles faintly. Yeah, it's okay now.

* * *

><p>Saionji led us back to her home. As she said we might as well make some use of the rest of the Saturday on doing something silly and bond a little. I don't mind, just… have my hopes that neither will Sekai's parents. She and Setsuna are obviously long-timed friends, but I'm a new element and a guy at that.<p>

"What's wrong, Tsuyoshi?" Saionji glances at me, briefly frowning. She must have caught up on my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, uh… nothing, I guess?"

"You're worried my mum will give you weird looks, aren't you?" Well, guess she's pretty good at reading people like books. Kiyoura doesn't get involved in the conversation, staying by Sekai's other side. "Well, you don't have to. She's a bit like me." You mean, the other way around. That said, that last bit has me a little worried.

"Bit like you?" I ask, to my dismay finding my voice wavering. Saionji's grin widens.

"Oh, you'll see." Yeah, way to assure my anxiety.

We eventually reach our destination: a small apartment in an average-looking complex. After knocking to the front door and finding no response Sekai frowns a little.

"Odd. She should be home at this hour, she told me so yesterday…" She murmurs, fishing a key ring out of her pocket. The mechanism clicks as she unlocks the door, letting us in. The corridor is nothing extraordinary, but then again I should probably expect something weird or unusual.

Well, except for who I presume is Mrs Saionji posing right there in some odd yellow-colored clothing that honestly looks like something straight out of some shonen manga. Posing, shall I say, _outrageously_ oddly.

"…Mom." The tone of Sekai's voice makes me think she's _long_ used to such unusual behavior. Yeah, she's not surprised or bemused, merely tired.

"At last, my dear Stand." Mrs Saionji exclaims in what is possibly the most hamtastic voice ever. "I, Mistress Youko, and you, Za Warudo, shall rule the world under our mighty grasp! Who are the ones you brought with yourself to do the bidding of I, Mistress Youko?" I shoot a brief glance at Setsuna. She's silently snickering under her breath, but hides it well. As for myself, well, I'm fucking confused.

Saionji sighs, rubbing her temples before taking a deep breath and taking an outrageous pose not unlike her mother.

"I, Za Warudo, bring you Hermit's Bow and…" She glances at me briefly, thinking. Hermit's Bow? She must be referring to Setsuna, but what the hell does that even mean? "and Emperor's Punch that kindly request your hospitality." Her tone's completely flat through the entirety of her response.

"I shall allow it." Mrs Saionji strikes one more pose before vamooshing into another corridor.

Then, silence.

Kiyoura finally begins giggling, further fueling my confusion. I mean, what?

"She's on a JoJo craze again…" Sekai says with a sigh, taking off her shoes. "Long story." She adds, seeing my stare. We follow suit. "C'mon, you two, to my room."

* * *

><p>"So your mum is a fan of old shonens and sometimes cosplays as characters from them…" Saionji nods affirmatively, smiling awkwardly.<p>

"It can get out of hand at times." She says, fiddling with the top button of her blouse. We're all sitting on her bed, Setsuna by her right and myself – by her left.

Honestly I'd prefer it to be much bigger so that I don't have Sekai's bare leg that close to me.

"She can be a big dork sometimes, but she means well." Saionji nods to herself, her smile regaining the usual flavor of happiness. "Honestly speaking, she seems to like you."

"I wouldn't know." I respond flatly, causing her to grin.

"Oh, and by the way, don't call her "Saionji-san". Go with Youko." Huh… I see. So Sekai's mum is the informal type of person…?

"I'll keep that in mind." Setsuna's oddly silent. Thought she would be a bit more talkative in a company of, I dare to say, friends, but no, the bow girl is hugging her knees just by Saionji's side, apparently deep in thought.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Sekai's question seems to briefly catch her attention as she turns to face us.

"I'm cool with whatever." I respond without much thought, shrugging. Saionji's impish grin has me paying attention really fast though. Seems to be the case with Kiyoura as well, she is as alerted as I am.

"I have an empty bottle of orange soda somewhere…" The taller girl muses, getting up from her seat and pretending to look around. Both of us can see it's right next to her – I'm certain she does too – but Sekai really likes her dramatics.

"Are you about to suggest Spin-The-Bottle, Sekai?" Judging from Setsuna's tone of voice this wasn't the first time her friend did such a thing. Apparently this wasn't a good idea either.

"Yup~"

Oh dear joy. I'm having brief flashbacks of my sister returning home after certain parties, all covered in lipstick and laughing hysterically, dead drunk. It was almost always either Spin-The-Bottle or King's Game that was the cause. That, and copious amounts of alcohol.

"As long we're not drinking anything, I'm fine with it." I respond in a careful tone, trying to keep my voice steady. Before Saionji can form a retort however, her cellphone rings with a brief tune, catching her attention.

"Hello? Oh hi, Karen, how's your work?" Kiyoura nods to herself, likely more informed than I am. "Not bad, huh? Wait, what? Hey, that's great news! We have a little get-together in my place, you're more than welcome to drop by. Okay then, see you around." With a small smile Saionji hangs up, shooting me something like a triumphant stare. I don't like it one bit.

"Who was that?" I dare to ask, feeling something like a lump in my throat.

"Karen Katou, Otome's little sis. They'll crash by in fifteen minutes or so."

"What about the project though?"

"Imagine this: Otomin has this brainy friend, a transfer student. Don't really recall his name though. With the three of them they did the job in a flash." Huh. Guess that's another person to take notice of. "Unfortunately he won't be coming with them, some urgent business to take care of."

"Oh, okay then."

"And that makes it more people for your plan, am I correct?" Setsuna asks a rather rhetorical question, but something tells me Saionji planned this more than I thought she did.

"Quite a coincidence, isn't it?" She responds with a hearty laugh, finally getting a hold of the bottle. Kiyoura nudges me discreetly with an elbow.

"She knows the guy, likely asked him for a favor." The bow girl whispers, making it very clear who's the puppet master of this whole day.

* * *

><p>Karen looks almost exactly like her older sister, at least face-wise: brown hair kept in short pigtails and brown eyes to match them. Hers seem a bit more energetic.<p>

And apparently she's two years younger despite being way better developed than her sister, or any other girl in the room, for that matter. She's nowhere close to Katsura-san's level, but that is a level hard to beat.

"Guess we will be starting right about now!" Saionji exclaims in her usual enthusiastic fashion, putting the bottle in the middle of our situated-on-the-floor circle and sitting by Otome's left. By my sides are Setsuna on the right and Karen on the left, the latter also being the only other person as enthusiastic about the matter as Sekai. Older of the Katous is putting on a brave face, but she doesn't really appear all that happy.

The bottle spins, stopping on Kiyoura, just barely missing me.

"Well, Secchan? Truth or dare?" Saionji inquires with her trademark impish grin.

"Truth."

"Okay, let's start out slowly." Me and Otome exchange glances. If there were alcohol involved, it would escalate quickly. Thankfully Saionji doesn't appear in possession of any liquor… or is bidding her time, ready to smash us with the most head-kicking sake she could get her hands on. "Which one of us do you find the sexiest here?" If I had any drink, I would probably choke on it right about now, alongside with the realization that all four girls here likely know each other to a degree way bigger than I could achieve at the moment. I'm at their absolute mercy.

Setsuna glances at me, then her eyes drift back to Sekai and finally the older of the Katous.

"Otome." She responds monotonously, prompting a giggle from Karen and a rather surprised blush from her sister.

"Ooh… and why so?" Saionji inquires further, her impish grin widening, but this time the tiny girl doesn't give her the pleasure of an answer, taking a hold of the bottle.

"One question at a time, Sekai." The bottle spins again, this time pointing at the younger Katou.

"Dare. Hit me." Karen responds without fear, folding arms across her ample chest. I need to stop staring.

"Switch shirts with Tsuyoshi." And this is the time where I'd definitely choke on whatever I would be drinking. And this coming from Setsuna, of all people? The younger Katou doesn't seem too phased however.

"Deal." Without a second thought she takes her upper clothing – a striped black-and-yellow shirt – off, revealing… an undershirt, a pink top that's just enough to spare us the sight of her bra. "Here's to you." She grins in a decidedly Sekai-like manner, handing me her shirt and clearly expecting me to strip in front of all four like herself without much hesitation.

…this is going to be way more traumatizing than I thought it will be.

With a grumble I decide to settle for something between following in her footsteps and chickening out and changing in a separate room; namely turning around from their way-too-curious stares and just exposing my back rather than my chest for them to see, then putting on Karen's shirt. True to expectations it just barely fits. That, and I feel like a moron. Conversely, my sleeveless piece almost hangs from her despite the fact that she's just barely smaller than me.

"Pretty comfy." Younger Katou comments on the change of garments, spinning the bottle. Lands upon Sekai. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Getting adventurous, all of you. That said, I'll probably pick a dare myself once my turn to be even further humiliated is up. Call it stupid, but I just don't see the appeal in truth. Making an idiot out of myself helps avoid bringing rather embarrassing personal secrets.

"Kiss someone's hand." Well, that seems like a breather. Saionji doesn't waste time and delicately lays lips on Setsuna's palm, prompting a small giggle and a blush. Seems someone's ticklish.

Another turn. Otome. Sekai grins in a way I definitely don't like and neither does older of the Katous. "Truth or dare, Otomin?"

"…truth."

"Do you have any crushes?"

"Yes." Not a moment of hesitation. Seems like she was prepared for this kind of question.

The bottle spins yet again. Points at Saionji.

"Dare." She seems confident. Well, after a round it's pretty obvious that Otome's the least perverted of the four. Perhaps Sekai counts on that Katou's challenge will be something she can take, no problem.

Thinking about it, I'm certain Katsura-san would faint a couple of times here already, assuming she wouldn't rather spontaneously combust from the teasing regarding her figure.

"Do a handstand." Huh. Saionji's expression briefly faltered, but she keeps the brave face still. Karen is, meanwhile, snickering like crazy.

"Sure thing, just gonna need a hand to hold me. Tsuyoshi?" She glances at me.

"No problem." Getting up from my seat and stretching a little – then realizing I'm in a much smaller shirt than usually, so I should keep it small – I wait as Sekai gathers herself and walks to me, her expression oddly unsure.

"Move a bit, don't want to kick someone." Saionji jests in the direction of the circle before staring back at me, taking a deep breath and rather clumsily doing said handstand, her legs landing in my grasp as I focus on both keeping her in place so she doesn't fall face-first to the floor and not staring anywhere near her in case the view from under her skirt decides to show itself. It doesn't last long, thankfully, and once we're back in our places the bottle spins once again.

Finally pointing at me.

"Well, Tsuyoshi? Truth or dare?" Sekai has regained her cheeky attitude almost immediately, staring at me with that trademark impish grin. I'm tempted to choose truth, because something tells me that I'm really going to regret picking dare.

…eh, what the hell.

"Dare." I respond, folding arms quite like Karen did a while ago. The grin widens. Oh boy, here we go.

"Go and kiss…" Oh dear God, Saionji, you just didn't do that. The atmosphere tenses a little and it shows in everyone's expressions: Otome's worried, her sister excited, Setsuna seems like a cross between the two, not mentioning Saionji's triumph and my own exasperation. I'm certain she's made up her mind a good while ago and is merely pretending to think this through to further hit me.

"…Secchan." Both Katous react differently: the older visibly sighs with relief, the younger seems almost dissatisfied. Then there's Kiyoura herself who apparently encountered an error and will now shut down, judging from how she pretty much froze in her place.

Somehow I'm not surprised it's her. Sekai is a master at making plans on a whim, particularly when it comes down to matchmaking.

"You will burn in hell for that, Saionji." I mumble, shifting myself closer to still frozen Setsuna who's currently limiting her movements to staring at me and her friend in what seems like an utter disbelief. "Alright… just…" Sigh. Get a grip, man. It's nothing serious. I just have to kiss her. Nothing more, nothing less; no subtext behind it whatsoever, no emotion other than a group of friends goofing around. I'll do what I have to do, move back and then plot some revenge. "Just brace yourself…" My tongue's like a piece of wood as I find myself losing words and quivering, if only so slightly. Who am I kidding? This is completely new to me. I've never kissed anyone nor have I been kissed in such a manner. It's almost funny how I'm quaking in my boots at the thought of doing such a thing when any fight, even if this would be five Sensuis, has me merely getting pumped up for the scrap.

Setsuna's silent. It doesn't help one bit. She's just staring at me with her reddish eyes without a word.

"…something's wrong, Ikeyama?" Otome finally breaks the silence, a small frown of concern on her face. It seems I've been quiet for a longer moment.

"I… son of a, I can't do it." Is my only response as I shuffle away from Kiyoura. "It doesn't feel right. I know it sounds silly, but-"

"It's okay." Sekai interjects, shaking her head. Gone is the cheeky grin, she appears as worried as older Katou, if not more. "I should have noticed the moment your face twisted when I started the sentence." Huh. I didn't notice that. Guess that one dare had me caught off guard. I briefly glance at Karen – she appears to be sharing the other two's sentiments – and then at Kiyoura who looks away the moment I do so. Don't tell me she blames herself for this. "That was a genuine fear you displayed."

"Is there any reason for this?" Otome asks bluntly, prompting a small disapproving hiss from Saionji.

"I guess so." Well, that's one way to dampen the mood so hard it hopped off the ship into depths of the ocean and didn't feel a slightest difference. Great going, Ikeyama.

* * *

><p>We said our goodbyes soon after. There was no point of goofing around with the game if everyone was feeling grim, something that can be attributed to yours truly failing to do what was he supposed to, all based on a couple of events from the past, back when I wasn't so easily triggered into anger. Feels like eternity sometimes.<p>

Man, it felt odd to see Sekai in such a mood. She was actually forcing herself to smile, something which I feel rather guilty about. All of this one failed kiss. Then again, some habits – or lack of thereof – die hard.

The train back home is devoid of people. There's only me, a couple unfortunate salarymen working Saturdays, some older-looking woman and one other guy somewhere around my age, reading a book, with notable Caucasian features. What does he read, I have no idea: the title doesn't appear to be in English. Spelling it out soundlessly brings O-S-T-A-T-N-I-E Ż-Y-C-Z-E-N-I-E. What kind of language has a dot over "z"?

Seems we're about to stop by Ritsuhana. Picking myself up from the seat I stare blankly at the glass door about to open… and notice a familiar small figure standing next to me, clearly avoiding staring either at her reflection or at me.

As we get out on the train station I await what does she have to tell me. It had better be good, because I think I'm going to throw her over my shoulder and bring back home unless she has some really good explanation as to why she'd followed me so late at night.

"…hey." Setsuna starts, still avoiding my stare."

* * *

><p><strong>And with that long delay another chapter had seen the light. The next one will bring some more info regarding the reasons for Ikeyama's hesitance and more! Stay tuned. <strong>


	6. Birth of The Dwarf

„How about you don't just „hey" me, Setsuna." I respond to her stifled greeting, folding arms. It's not that late, but it's well past twilight already. Going back home after dark isn't the safest thing one can do, particularly when they're someone her size.

"I owe you an apology." She says, shaking her head. It's about earlier, isn't it? So I was correct in thinking she will somehow find a way to pin the blame on herself.

"You don't owe me anything. It's no big deal."

"Also, I… I want to help you. Somehow." Hold the phone?

"You what?" The train station is almost deserted, no one but us here.

"You helped me earlier. It's only fair to get even."

"Seriously though, Kiyoura, you don't owe me anything. Back then I did the only right thing to do. Anyone else with a basic sense of decency would do the same."

"You looked miserable." Another word that catches me off-guard, flinching. Miserable? Sekai did mention fear, but misery? "Something happened that made you averse to such things. I was glancing at you every now and then… and I don't think you enjoyed the game one bit." Tch. Suddenly there's a ton of insightful girls all around that read me like a book. Then again I guess I'm not exactly hard to read.

"…no, I didn't." Comes my mumbled response.

"Why didn't you say so? Sekai would cut it short."

"Would she?" I find that hard to believe myself, as my rather uninspired voice betrays. Setsuna doesn't seem to mind, nodding with confidence it's hard to find in her most times.

"I'm certain." She says, accentuating the second word. "She means no harm, but… I guess she's a bit thick-skinned in that regard.

"Putting it lightly."

"Yeah." A moment of silence. It's getting a little cold. I forgot how chilly April can still be.

"Look, Setsuna, can't we… discuss this some other day?"

"I insist." She insists, huh. I suppose that is something I can't argue with.

"Do you at least have a way back home?"

"Sekai's mother will pick me up." I find myself sighing heavily. She's right though: if I were to spill the beans regarding this… incident from a while ago, I suppose it would have to be someone I'm sure won't blurt it out on first occasion. That, and perhaps it might help me to just get over the damn thing.

Alright, Kiyoura. I'm open to your offer.

* * *

><p>Luckily for me no one was at home. Apparently both mom and dad were out in the city doing shopping. No sight of Sayuri either.<p>

"You want any tea?" I ask her as she slips off her shoes. "The heating's kinda busted."

"Sure." She responds, taking off her jacket and immediately noticing how cold it is in here. Ever since Dad almost blew us all up in yet another attempt of fixing the damn thing we've decided to just adjust to the cold in waiting for someone more capable of repairing the installation. Apparently the previous owner of this place moved out precisely for that reason.

I can feel Setsuna's presence uncomfortably close to me all of a sudden. "Cold, aren't you?" It's mostly a rhetorical question, as I can see clearly how is she shivering. "C'mon, let's get you a sweater." She nods meekly, tagging along to my room, still keeping rather close. It's just to be a bit warmer, I'm sure.

I guess there's nothing special about it. My room, that is. I believe a couple of people I've ever invited in here were surprised that I keep it in relative order, rather contrary to the first impression I tend to make when meeting new people. Nothing special in it though: a wardrobe with a modest selection of clothing, a desk with a pretty antiquated PC, a small bed, some books on shelves, so on and so forth. The walls are in the color of dark green, making the whole place a bit poorly lit with that small bulb not really offering an effective source of light. Also, for some damn reason all kinds of arachnids and insects like to creep around here.

And judging by Setsuna's terrified shriek they're still around. Just a moment later she's right in the wardrobe with me, having tripped over the entrance and landing on a pile of shirts, pale as death. Somewhat amusing. Then again, these skittering bastards can get crazy big sometimes. This one is, thankfully, only a black home spider minding its own business on the wall.

"Killitkillitkillit…" She mumbles, staring at the arachnid chilling on the other end of the room, burying herself deeper into my unused clothing. Just a moment more and she won't be needing any sweater. With a sigh that borders on amusement I pick myself up and gently slide the eight-legged creature into my hand. It tries to skitter away, but I've managed to cage it with the other hands before shooing it out of the room into the corridor. It briefly comes to a stop after touching the floor and then speeds away into darkness.

"You okay there?" I ask her, still in the middle of my shirts and blouses. She finally realizes that she must look incredibly silly in that assorted pile of clothing, mumbling an apology and making her way out of there, face all red. "Have a seat on the bed, I'll fish something out for you." Might be good to fish for something for myself too. It really is cold.

Finally getting a hold of two sweaters I chuck one to the girl on the bed while putting on my own. True to expectations, it looks more like a bag than a sweater on her, even worse than how it was with Karen. Well, at least it should be cozy for her. "Gimme a second, I'll be back with the tea in a moment."

"I-I'll tag along." She responds almost immediately, getting back up. Doesn't seem like she wants to stay in a room where so many crawlies creep around on her own. As for the sweater, it almost looks like a knee-length dress on her.

In the kitchen it's oddly silent. She doesn't utter a word as I make tea, just sitting on a chair a bit away from me with her legs curled up that she resembles a pile of wool with a bow-adorned head attached to it.

And then we go back, again in silence. Sitting on the bed, backs to the wall, she also holds a cup of tea, using the oversized sleeves to not scald herself with it.

"Alright." I decide to break the silence, shifting a bit in my place. I feel like I've suddenly grown that much more uncomfortable with this whole case. "Guess I should start, shouldn't I?" She nods in silence, shuffling herself a bit closer to me. I can feel our shoulders touching. There's nothing bad with it: it's just so both of us don't freeze in here. "Boy, where do I start?" That was a good question. Why was I doing all this again? I'm trusting Setsuna won't spill the beans to anyone regarding the matter. She also wants to get even because I helped her earlier by saving her from those two…

And yet something keeps nagging at me, like I should throw her on my shoulder and carry over to Kiyoura household.

"From the beginning." She responds, wriggling herself in front of me and making me embrace her, resting her head on my chest. You can't be that cold, can you…?

I'm so thankful that no one is here to see us. It's already bad that there are rumors of me being Katsura-san's boyfriend; so me being a boyfriend of any other girl would make things disastrous for both of us.

With a heavy sigh I begin reminding myself of this silly, yet powerful incident that left me who I am.

* * *

><p>I was ten.<p>

Some people tell me I used to be a sweet kid. Sickeningly sweet, even. The kind that causes people to have diabetes and that distracts drivers, causing horrible car accidents by the virtue of being that pure and innocent. With that, however, came naiveté. One could say that almost all children this age are of the similar sort, but that's a load of bull. Kids these days are craftier than adults take them for. There are, of course, almost stereotypical examples of such angel children, and I happened to be one of them.

Put it simply, I was a bigger idiot than now. Smarter kids on the block used it to order me around, but I wasn't complaining. Even before I took up boxing I was perceived as somewhat scary due to my freakishly tall frame, at least for that age, so I guess they didn't want to test me too much than necessary. I did what they told me with a big grin on my face, happy to help my "friends".

And then Ruri joined our class.

Yagura Ruri. Black hair in a long braid, almost as long as she was tall. Big brown eyes although she always said she didn't like them that much. I don't know how, but I was awestruck. Love from the first sight, you may say. Puppy love. I asked her one day if I could carry her bag, so she doesn't have to – something I did regularly on requests of other classmates – and she accepted. Thinking back to that time, I think I might have even overwhelmed her with my insistence on helping her with all I could think of, at least initially. She adapted, however.

As the time passed, her requests grew more and more outrageous, easily veering into territory not anyone else would cross. I went with all her schemes and ideas, blind like a bat. Some guys even got jealous that "this new girl" has managed to hog class' personal servant for herself. There were attempts at smearing her image, so that I stop staring at her like she was God himself. None were successful. Worse, I was starting to react rather badly to any. Before that I could count numbers of times I was truly angry on my left hand, but Ruri's influence did a number on me. I began to be aggressive whenever someone tried to once again pull me away from her. People started to get truly scared of me which caught teachers' attention. Suffice to say, they were flabbergasted that Tsuyoshi-kun acted nothing like his old self, often compared to a boy scout in terms of niceness. Whenever Ruri would be to blame for something – which began happening distressingly often – I would take the heat for her. My reputation completely tarnished, I shied away from these few friends I had, seeing only her.

And then came the day when she asked me to steal the final exam of that year. As she explained, she couldn't learn the contents herself on time due to "various difficulties" – she never specified what kind of difficulties – and so kindly requested that I aid her in that illegal way. This time I decided to voice my doubt. Doing such a thing was way too outrageous, way too dangerous for both of us. It could end in some heavy punishment, maybe even expulsion from school. I offered her help with normal kind of studying. I never was a good student, but I had grades solid enough to pull through with an average result.

…do you know what that _bitch_ did after I said that? She grabbed me by the shoulders, stood on her toes and kissed me.

Any trail of thought I had was lost completely the moment our lips connected. It was a simple, slightly forceful kiss. Once she pulled back she was crying. I was confused, scared, but my tiny brain made me euphoric instead. She kissed me, I thought. She loves me like I love her. That's what I was thinking. She then further said how she depends on me and feels guilty because of all this and how she loves me too… and I listened. Took every single word at face value. Once she repeated her request, I agreed without a second doubt.

I was caught, naturally. My parents were summoned to school for a little chit-chat with the principal. A part of me was terrified. This has never happened, even after Ruri changed my behavior. To me, the principal was this kind of mythical monster that eats schoolgirls and schoolboys that misbehave and don't study well enough. I was threatened with expulsion. The one thought that kept me from passing out in fear was that my Ruri loves me. That she will forgive me my mistake.

I planned to take the heat for her as usual, but before my chat with the principal, Sayuri visited my school. She asked my parents if she can borrow me for a moment. After dragging me somewhere where we could talk in private she asked what exactly happened. I told her. I knew she wouldn't tell to anyone else: this wasn't the first time we shared something embarrassing or otherwise privy.

She told me to tell the truth. "You will be seeing things a bit clearer", she said as an explanation. She was right, I would understand everything in next ten minutes… and that would turn everything right on its head.

I decided to follow Sayuri's request. I told both my parents and the principal why did I really try to steal these exams. Principal questioned me further, namely if Ruri's the reason for my increasingly aggressive behavior. I confirmed that one as well. Then came the quintessential question of "why".

It was hard, unmasking her and her plan like that… but I told them. "Because we're in love", that was my response. "Because I love her and I will do everything for her."

Ruri was summoned to the office a moment later. I was taken off guard by her sudden change of appearance. She seemed much colder, distant. She didn't smile when I smiled at her. She was staring right into my eyes, but it didn't really feel that way at all.

Principal brought my version to light and confronted it with her own. She smiled a little and began denying every single thing. She barely knows me. She would never think of something that outrageous. I'm trying to drag her into this, because she rejected my desperate love confession earlier which also explains my increasing aggression.

She didn't flinch at all when saying all this. My heart grew colder by the minute, I could feel tears sliding down my cheeks. At the same time I felt an increasing anger. Why are you betraying me, Ruri? I thought you loved me. Stop fooling around, Ruri. You've kissed me earlier, I mean…

I said that last part out loud, likely by accident. Yagura Ruri then smiled a smile that haunts me to this day and said this.

"Don't be silly. I would never kiss someone like you."

That was my breaking point. I jumped out of the seat as swift as a wind and, screaming with this newborn aggression, swung a fist at her. I don't remember anything else than her crying, me running out of school and people chasing after me.

We've met again a year ago, by chance. I was on holidays with a couple of folks from my class before Sakakino. She didn't change at all appearance-wise: still had her hair in a long, black braid as well as big brown eyes.

Well, right eye. The left one was obscured by a gray eyepatch.

Her eyesight never truly recovered after my attack all these years ago. As she explained, it was a bit smaller and not quite looking where she'd like it to.

We talked a bit. She was quiet, polite. In terms of personality she was a completely different person when compared to her old self. It was honestly freaking me out.

Once she was about to go she stopped and turned around. She asked me for forgiveness.

I responded with "no, Ruri. If anything, I should be asking forgiveness from you."

We'd achieved mutual pardon.

Ever since that event from six years ago my aggression reached its absolute peak. For a few next years I was nothing more than a juvenile delinquent who picked fights with anyone who looked at him funny. My parents managed to steer me away from this path to self-destruction by pointing me to boxing. It's where I've learned to fight better. Keep my emotions in check or, at the very least, choose specific targets for my rage.

Year ago I laid down a lecherous teacher and so we've moved here. That's about it.

Setsuna's silent. I guess she's taking a moment to process all this. I don't rush her, just holding her close to myself, so we're both warm. Honestly I'm not feeling neither warm nor cold. Just… tired.

…oh wait, she's sleeping. Wow, Ikeyama, talk about being boring. Yeah, she's fast asleep. Eyes closed, steady breath, head down. Should I wake her? Should we just stay like this until she wakes up?

It's gonna be a bitch to sit like this though. With a cold wall behind me it doesn't appear to be a pleasant experience. Then again, we're stuffed in heavy sweaters, so we might as well rest backs on a fridge.

Then again_ again_, this would make for a mighty awkward situation if we were to be caught like this, particularly for her. My parents can be pretty nasty teasers.

Slowly letting her go I gently lie her down on the bed, curled up in a fetal position. She's even smaller than usually. Smiling to myself I put myself up and stalk down the stairs, cellphone in hand. Now to dial Sekai…

"Hello? Hey, Tsuyoshi speaking. Setsuna mentioned your mum will pick her up from here. She's fast asleep in my room. No, we didn't do anyth-get your head out of the gutter, Saionji. She's probably tired. It's pretty late at evening. So yeah. Uh-huh. Appreciated. I'll be waiting. See you Monday." And with that I hang up, slipping the phone back to my pocket.

Man, talk about an exhausting day. Well, guess I'll go wake Setsuna up. I'm sure she's about done with that day either.

* * *

><p><strong>Guess that about covers it. <strong>** See you – hopefully – soon in a next chapter. All reviews are appreciated. **


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